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The grave; and the barren womb; the earth that is not filled with water; and the fire that saith not, It is enough.
– Proverbs 30:16

[V]erse 16 lists the four mentioned in the previous verse that are never satisfied. The common link is insatiability, or persistent hunger that is never satisfied. The grave refers to the place of the dead, which never turns a corpse away because it is full (Proverbs 27:20; Isaiah 5:14; Habakkuk 2:5). The barren womb cannot be satisfied apart from bearing children, which it cannot do (Genesis 30:1). In a dry land, the rain is never enough, and fire will burn as long as it has any fuel at all.

The saying forms a warning against uncontrolled appetites, echoing the many wisdom warnings in the book (Proverbs 11:28; 15:27; 20:21; 28:22, 25). The connection with verse 15 and the previous generation sayings also gives the warning to reject the greed of the previous generation. This sort of warning is echoed in the prophets in their warnings to Israel and Judah (Ezekiel 16:44-45).